Youth and Family Centres are physical and easily accessible facilities that combine services related to health, growing up and parenting and offer immediate information, advice and minor help to parents, children and professionals. Three keys of success have been identified in a study carried out in the municipality of Utrecht. First, to prevent the creation of a new bureaucratic layer the professionals of these services must be given full play to organize their own processes. Secondly, the general practitioner and the youth health care medical officer should link general practice with Youth and Family centres to guarantee coordinated care. A flexible youth health care, in content as well as financially, is the third key for well coordinated and effective local youth care.
Key words: Youth and Family Centres, general practice, youth health care
